Need some advice on a Lovebird Pair

[awillett]

Hello,

I am a proud owner os a 9 month old Green Cheek conure. He is an absolute wonder bird and is perfect in every way. I have always wanted a lovebird and I went out looking but came home with him instead.....well I just found an opportunity to bring home a pair of bonded lovebirds.

They are not hand tamed. My friend doesnt even know how old they are...she has had them for a year. The male is friendlier than the female. My conure is VERY hand tamed and spends ALL of his time out of his cage when we are at home.
I really feel that I can give these lovies a great home and am willing to take on the chaalenge to try to get them to be a little more trusting....do you think this could ever happen.

I need all the advice I can get. I have never had a lovebird before, actually my conure is my first bird. My aunt has a lovebird who is their only bird so she is very tame but she doesnt have a mate.

 

[Archiesmom]

Well...everything is possible.
But there are a couple of factors working against the birds. First, they are bonded to one another, so therefore you will be considered immediately as the "intruder" in that whole relationship, which might pose some difficulty to overcome. Second, we don't know their age, so therefore I'm guessing we have no idea about their past history? Perhaps if they were handfed, they could revert, but if not, you'd have to start the taming process from scratch which can be hard to do in a fully developed bird.

I will say that I found out from Akira's previous owner that she was NOT handtame before she came to her. She spent months working with her, and now Akira is a velcrobird and can go to just about anyone as she just loves people I've also been working closely with a little male lovie I have this is not handtame and he is special-needs (which in my opinion makes it a little easier for us), and he is coming along quite well with hand-taming. He likes to be talked to, and he's very interested in me and why the other birds really are interested in me. Its possible that since your GCC is so handtame, they may become very interested in you as they observe you and your GCC interact.

Regardless, if they need a good home, and you can provide it, I think this would be a good possibility Even if they don't become completely handtame, I will be the first to attest that lovebirds are so comical and fun to watch and interact with- even through cage bars

 

[awillett]

Thank you for your reply....and I was also thinking that they may become interested in Ollies interaction with us. I am also hoping that their presence may keep him company during the day when we are at work/school. I am pretty excited...I have always wanted a lovebird.

 

[Jally]

I have 6 lovies and out of the 6, only 2 are handtamed. And only 3 out of the 6 aren't so afraid of me that they run screaming every time they see me. I can still talk to them and tell them how much they mean to me. There is nothing cuter than watching 2 lovies interact, cuddle, and preen each other.

So, my advice is just to go slow. It may take years to get them where they aren't afraid of you, but even if they don't, they will still have a good home

 

[awillett]

They sure will.....I am picking them up saturday...sooo excited

Any advice on when to start introducing new toys/food??
Also is the quaratine 30 days?

 

[Lovebird]

I've got 8 lovies. Out of the eight, six were hand-fed by me, but none of them are actually tame. They loved me so much when I was weaning them but now they run when I approach. They do love to interact from the cages and they are delightful to watch. I am almost certain I could get them to trust me if I worked it enough. The mom and dad came to me as rescues and have never been held except by the vet. I feed all of them Roudybush crumbles and homemade birdy bread full of fruit and veges (which they love). I also give them a Nutriberries or AviCakes treat each afternoon. Their toys are varied and they destroy almost everything... lol.

You will truly love your new babies whether they become hand-tamed or not. I think they will be fascinated by your conure and he will be too. Quarantine I know nothing about... Good luck and enjoy your new family members!

 

[christypooh402]

I'll be watching this thread because I just acquired a lovie pair myself today. They aren't hand tame either. Even if they never are, I will at least know they are happy and well taken care of. Good luck with yours! My daughter has her own lovie. She's had Xusha since early Dec. Xusha is about 5 months old. Very flighty and scared at first, but now she loves my daughter to pieces! But, she was handfed and young, so it didn't take much work to get her that way again. I can't wait to see pics!!